At 1/31/13 05:38 PM, Xenomit wrote:
Do digital attacks count as attacks against a nation?

I would think it depends on who is attacking and what it is that they're attacking. Russian hackers have already used cyber warfare to cripple the IT infrastructure of a foreign country and has done similar shit to Georgia and South Ossetia. The problem is that the attacks on Estonia were made by private citizens with their own botnets. There was no evidence of government involvement whatsoever, much like this story about "China" hacking the NYT, when in reality it's just a bunch of bored teenagers.

At 1/31/13 05:38 PM, Xenomit wrote:
Do digital attacks count as attacks against a nation?

I would think it depends on who is attacking and what it is that they're attacking. Russian hackers have already used cyber warfare to cripple the IT infrastructure of a foreign country and has done similar shit to Georgia and South Ossetia. The problem is that the attacks on Estonia were made by private citizens with their own botnets. There was no evidence of government involvement whatsoever, much like this story about "China" hacking the NYT, when in reality it's just a bunch of bored teenagers.

That is generally the case with Chinese hackers. People like Javaphile (who took over the White House website eons ago) - are just regular joes with a computer and a lot of time on their hands.

I've never grasped why this happens - but a fuck ton of those dudes get together, kill a bunch of time, and run any exploit they can find.

I remember hearing a rumor at one time that the Chinese Government would reward the citizens who commited cyber crimes against the United States.